


of ambushes, ranting, and trying to be better

by punkcowboy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, Identity Reveal, Kinda, Knew, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter needs sleep, Spiders Unite!, and training, bc she’s Natasha, he is so tired, she just like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23432245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkcowboy/pseuds/punkcowboy
Summary: “I’ve recently been trying to do better. To be a better person. And so I will not bring any harm to a child.”“How, uh, morally upstanding of you, Miss Black Widow ma’am.” Peter fumbled out.“You’re right, I’m a saint,” she smirked, “You can call me Miss Romanov though, or Natasha if you’re feeling ballsy.”And- well, ok. Peter’s brain really did short circuit when she said that.-In which Peter is ambushed in the park by THE Black Widow, and ends up Telling. Her. Off. How is he even still alive?
Relationships: Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Tony Stark (mentioned)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 227





	of ambushes, ranting, and trying to be better

He took a sip of his coffee, eyes glued to the page. His tired mind refused to co-operate, however, and he found himself trying to read the same page over and over again without taking any of it in. There was a dull tingling in the back of his head, and he put it down to either lack of sleep or too much coffee but didn’t pay much attention to it as he struggled on with his book.

If he hadn’t ignored it, perhaps he wouldn’t have just about jumped out of his skin when he heard someone clear their throat next to him. As it was, he  _ did _ jump and clutched at his chest, heart beating fast, before turning to face the person who had, at some point, sat down on the other side of the bench.    
  
Looking at her, there wasn’t anything that particularly stood out about her appearance. She was pretty, and her red hair poking out from underneath her cap would almost certainly be show-stopping if she let it down, but generally she looked like an ordinary woman. Nonetheless, the tingling in the back of his head- that he now recognised to be his spidey sense, just slightly dulled by lack of sleep- continued to ring.    
  
The woman tilted her head, as if assessing him. It made Peter feel uneasy.    
  
“You didn’t notice me.”   
  
“Obviously,” Peter mumbled out. He didn’t want to seem rude, after all. He also had a strange feeling that he recognised this woman from somewhere, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Stupid brain, being slow and sleep-deprived.    
  
“I apologise for scaring you,” she said, although she didn’t seem very sorry at all.   
  
That should probably have been the end of the conversation, however Peter had a feeling that she was wanting to say more and so he waited for her to speak again.    
  
Eventually, she smirked.   
  
“Normally you’re far more intuitive than this, Spidey. What’s got you so mellow?”   
  
And, oh. _Oh_. That’s why she seemed so familiar.    
  
Peter’s heart rate picked up once again. He was sitting on the same bench as  _ the _ Black Widow. And, if that wasn’t enough to make him nervous, she knew his identity.   
  
How did she know? And more importantly, why would she let him know she knew? What did she want from him?

Swallowing his panic, he tried to act casual. 

“I’m not sure what you’re-“

“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” She turned to him, features not giving anything away, “I’m not here to harm you. You’re under Stark’s protection, for a start, and I wouldn’t jeopardize that alliance-“

“Again.” 

She paused and stared at him. Maybe he had caught her off-guard, but she still wasn’t giving anything away. The tips of his ears burned with- embarrassment? Fear? Peter didn’t know his own emotions anymore, all he knew was that he wanted this whole interaction to be over as quickly as possible. (Although perhaps interrupting was not the best way to go about that, but, well. Defending Mr Stark was what he did.)

After a short silence, The Black Widow continued, “You’re right. Again. As well as that, you’re still young, not even close to being a legal adult. And, perhaps it’s long overdue, I’ve recently been trying to do better. To be a better person. And so I will not bring any harm to a child.”

“How, uh, morally upstanding of you, Miss Black Widow ma’am.” Peter fumbled out. 

“You’re right, I’m a saint,” she smirked, “You can call me Miss Romanov though, or Natasha if you’re feeling ballsy.” 

And- well, ok. Peter’s brain really did short circuit when she said that. 

“It was nice meeting you, Peter. I hope we can work together soon. Athough,” she stood up, “your fighting style needs some work. Maybe we can spar together sometime, I’ll teach you some tricks.”

“I- uh, yeah, that’d be awesome, um- hey, wait! My fighting style is great!” he protested.

Natasha openly smirked at that, “Sure, for the low-level jerks you face day to day, but if you want to fight in the big leagues? You have to step up your game, kid.”

“Whaddaya mean, the ‘big leagues’?” Maybe Peter was being a little slow, but he didn’t like the way she was dismissing what he did.

“Come on now, Peter, we both know that what you’re doing right now is just to fill time until Stark offers you a place on the Avengers. You’re trying to prove to him that you can take it.” 

Peter briefly considered not saying what he did next considering who he was talking to, but his brain to mouth filter had always been shot, especially when he felt slighted. Plus, if she was so much better than him, she could take it with grace. Hopefully.

“Look, Miss, all due respect, but maybe you need to work on  _ your _ , like, super spy skills because that’s not what’s happening here.”

Peter held his breath, alert and on the lookout for any sort of the reaction to try and figure out if she was about to punch him in the face or not. If she felt put out though, Natasha didn’t show it. 

Instead, she simply arched an eyebrow at him in question, “Oh?”

“I-,” he cleared his throat. Here goes nothing, “Look, ma’am, those ‘low level jerks’ might barely be a blip on your radar, if that, but they cause a lot of pain for the people who live in this city. If I help only one person get their purse back from a robber, or stop some homophobes wailing on some poor kid, that’s one less person who’s scared to leave their house. Obviously, we need the big guys, the friendly faces like Captain America to say everything’s gonna be ok, y’know? Black Widow, Iron Man, Hawkeye. The people that are there when the big scary aliens show up. But helping out the little guy, being out on the streets when big stuff isn’t going down and the world isn’t about to explode or something, is a lot more important than you might think.”

Natasha crossed her arms, shifting her stance a little as if in thought. Maybe. Peter still couldn’t get a read on her. 

His spider sense had stopped buzzing almost completely, which was probably a good sign that she wasn’t about to kill him. Either that or he was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Finally, she looked him square in the eye,

“Guess you were feeling ballsy.”

He snorted, relaxing back onto the bench.

“I guess so,” he replied, smiling up at her awkwardly. 

“I may have. Misinterpreted the situation,” she admitted, “And I apologise if I offended you. But you do still need to work on your fighting style. Train properly. I expect to see you in Stark’s private gym on Saturday, 7AM sharp. Don’t be late.” 

Peter’s mind raced trying to comprehend what she said. Luckily his phone buzzed, giving him time to think up an acceptable reply. 

And apparently that was the end of whatever had just transpired, because by the time he looked back up after the five seconds it took to reply to Ned, Natasha was gone.

He took a big gulp of his coffee, processing the situation. 

It was cold, and he spat it out before picking up his things and leaving the park.

He could finish the reading tomorrow. Right now, he desperately needed to get some sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write! Hope yall enjoyed it too. Any feedback is much appreciated xo


End file.
